First UAF meeting (C4)

On 10/16 Mary reported that she had received a note of interest from Keith Reynolds at the Utah AIDS Foundation.  He wanted to meet with us on 10/17 at 10 AM.

Because of the late notice and scheduling conflicts with work, only Mary and Karl were able to attend.  We met with Keith and got a tour of the UAF facility.  We then explained the nature of our project and confirmed that we could form an alliance with Keith and the UAF that would be mutually beneficial to our team, the UAF, and the community they serve as well.  We then began preliminary exploration of issues which affect the UAF mission and ways that we might be of service to the community.

The mission of the UAF is to educate community members about HIV transmission and prevention, provide testing for a variety of sexually transmitted infections, as well as support for those persons in Utah currently living with HIV/AIDS.  We identified that the primary population that Keith works with through the UAF is men who have sex with men (MSM), because this group is by far the most at-risk for contracting HIV.  We were able to identify the following challenges:

• Long term involvement from individuals in the community
• Interest and motivation for prevention education
• Ability to reach target population(s) in an effective manner with prevention programs
• Current rise in HIV transmission among IV drug users and apparent apathy in prevention from this particular subset of the population.  

We then discussed options for meeting with the community.  We decided that a focus group, to be held at the UAF would be the best option.  We have planned the focus group for 10/28.  Mary had created an announcement flyer to be distributed in the meantime, which she has forwarded to Keith for commentary, and agreement.

Team members will meet this week to discuss specifics of the focus group, including what ways to best reach attendees and discover the community's needs in relation to the UAF and HIV prevention/education/testing/care.